As hordes of local college students took final exams and packed their bags for the holiday break a most distinguished visitor slipped into town to participate in a late semester seminar at Harvard’s Business School. Earlier this year Sir Alex Ferguson had agreed to be the subject of a case study for an MBA class taught by Professor Anita Elberse and Tom Dye and after onsite visits at Old Trafford and the Carrington training HQ, the former trade union shop steward jetted to capitalism’s own theater of dreams to impart his managerial ideas up close and personally.

(*) Please note: Some of the statistics cited below may be a game out of date.

Thus far, in his rookie season with 26 matches played, Coach Jay Heaps has guided the New England Revolution to a record of six (6) wins, fourteen (14) losses and six (6) draws for a total of 24 points. The team has scored 33 goals and given up 38 for a -5 differential and an average of 1.27 scored per match and 1.46 goals given up. The PPG is .92 for this campaign and the team lies second from the bottom in the East as well as the Supporter’s Shield, well out of the playoffs and sinking fast.

Thinking about the departure of Shalrie Joseph to the far west coast brings to mind the title of Spike Lee’s groundbreaking film, “Do The Right Thing.” In the case of their long serving and perennially marvelous captain Revolution management did the right thing last fall by attempting to make up, at least to a degree, for blocking his transfer to what would surely have been a more lucrative career in Europe by declaring him a to be Designated Player for the 2012 season. This enabled them to pay Joseph a salary of $495,000 ($554,333.33 guaranteed) while saving almost $200,000 from the overall cap.

Back in the day, way, way back in the day it used to be said that all Gaul was divided into three parts. More recently, far more recently as the New England Revolution began the 2012 season under new coach Jay Heaps with a number of freshly signed and apparently talented players in the fold many opined that the coming campaign might be separated in similar fashion; to wit an early and uncertain feeling-out period with poor to mixed results followed by mid-season coming together in both style and efficacy and ending with a glorious peaking in harmony with the foliage as summer waned and fall waxed and a pell-mell, ultimately successful, playoff push ensued.